Just a kiss
by Maloui
Summary: It's prom night. Aria and Emily decided to be each other's dates because of a lack of a boyfriend or girlfriend. It seems for Emily the night is going to turn out slightly different than expected. (Paily On-Shot)


**Hey guys, I was in a writing mood today so I decided to work on my idea which I had when I watched the prom episode in season 6. It really sucked that Paige wasn't there to attend the prom with Emily. So I kind of needed to fix that with a one-shot.**

 **Enjoy reading and feel free to leave a review.**

 **Please check out my multiple chapter story "Always", too! ( s/12292129/1/Always)**

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"Who are you talking to Prom?" Aria asked.

She was at The Brew with Emily. Prom was right around the corner and Aria still had no idea who she was gonna go with. Ezra was off the table since they had broken up some weeks ago. Because there was no one else she could go with, she would go alone. Well not alone because her friends Emily, Spencer and Hanna would go as well, but they probably all would have a date. Hanna had Caleb and Spencer had Toby. Emily always had a girl swarming for her. Right now it was this girl Sara, who was staying at her place for a while. Emily would probably take Sara to prom.

"I don't know. Honestly." Emily answered much to Aria's surprise.

"What about Sara?"

"I thought about asking her, but I don't know. Prom night is special, you know. It's the night we looked forward to. It's about dressing up, being fancy, dancing…" _I wish I could take Paige._ Emily and Paige had always dreamed about going to prom together. Dressing up, Emily in a beautiful dress and Paige in a fancy suit. Dancing to a slow song while staring into each other's eyes longingly. _That's not going to happen, Fields. Stop dreaming._

"And you should do it with someone special." Aria finished Emily's sentence since her friend was lost in her thoughts. "You don't know Sara that long and not that well. I get it. And you're right."

"Who are you taking?" Emily asked in return.

"No one, I guess. Well, I can't take Ezra, right?"

"That would probably be awkward." Emily agreed.

"So, I was thinking… What about we'll be each other's date?"

Emily laughed and nodded. "I like your thinking. I'll definitely be your date!"

Emily looked into the mirror for the hundredth time this evening. She was wearing a fancy black and white dress which shows just the right amount of her décolleté. She wanted to look perfect for this special night. High school was finally over and real life was about to start. She heard the doorbell ring.

"Emmy, Aria is here." Wayne Fields called from downstairs.

"I'll be right there!" Emily flattered her dress one final time before she went downstairs. Aria was waiting in the living room with her dad.

"Look at my little girl" Wayne said and got up. He pulled his daughter in for a hug. "You look beautiful, Emmy."

"Thanks, Dad." Emily could see a huge smile on her father's face. She could tell how proud he was. She turned to Aria. Aria was wearing a dress which was blue on the top and really colorful on the lower part. Something which really suited her.

"Nice dress, Aria."

"Thanks. I made some changes to my original dress. I made two dresses into one because it should be special."

"It definitely is. You did a good job."

"Girls, you're ready to go?" Wayne asked. He had offered to drive the girls over to Rosewood High. Emil had accepted gladly.

"Shall we?" Emily asked and offered Aria to link arms with her.

"Let's do this!"

Aria and Emily were sitting at the bar, a non-alcoholic cocktail in front of them. They were looking at the dancefloor where Spencer was dancing closely with Toby. Spencer's head was resting on Toby's shoulder while they moved in a slow and perfect rhythm. Next to them Emily and Aria spotted Hanna and Caleb in a similar dancing move,

"They look happy." Emily noted.

"They really do." Aria agreed. There was a bit of sadness in her voice. She wished Ezra would be there tonight. Of course, it would be a bit awkward with him being a former teacher at Rosewood high but the two of them had never let that awkwardness affected their relationship. In the end, they weren't meant to be.

"Stop thinking about him, Aria. This is our night, don't forget that."

"Only if you stop thinking about her! And don't say, you didn't. I can see it in your eyes."

"I wasn't thinking about Sara." _What a great answer, Fields. She didn't mean Sara and you know it!_

"I know. You were thinking about Paige." _You caught me._

"Some nights, we were sitting in my window seat and look at the stars. We were making plans about prom night." Emily's eyes started to fill with tears.

"Don't go there, Em. It's a place where you can hardly come back from. Especially tonight."

"May I have this dance?" Emily heard someone ask beside her. _No way. It can't be._ Emily turned around and was directly looking at her ex-girlfriend Paige. For a second Emily thought she was going to be sick but she was able to pull herself together. Then she thought she was hallucinating. That she had dreamed too much about Paige being here so that her mind played a trick on her.

"If you don't close your mouth, you'll start to drool." Aria whispered into Emily's ear. _Good, Aria's seeing her, too. I'm not hallucinating._ Emily quickly closed her mouth but she couldn't take her eyes off Paige. Paige looked beautiful. She wore a white suit which looked a lot like the one they had been talking about one night in the window seat. Her auburn hair was perfectly wavy and fell on her shoulders.

"You're here." Emily whispered.

"Dance with me please." Paige held out her hand and hoped Emily would take it. Paige didn't get disappointed. Emily looked at Aria to check if she would be okay being left alone at the bar. When Aria nodded, Emily took Paige's hand and let her to the dancefloor.

Emily let her other hand rest on Paige's waist but she didn't dare to look her ex-girlfriend in the eye. It felt a bit awkward being so close to her after they had split up some month ago. Paige had moved to California and eventually they had lost touch after Paige had asked for space. Except for a brief phone call after the dollhouse incident they had kept absolute radio silence. Emily was too afraid to ask why Paige had come back. She was too afraid of what Paige might answer.

They needed a moment to find their rhythm. At first they moved a little stiffly, not knowing if their touching was appropriate. With each second of the song, the two women relaxed more and more until they moved as If they were one.

"You look beautiful, Em."

Emily looked up and smiled. She couldn't help it. _Damn you, McCullers. I'm still under your spell._

"You still know how to sweet-talk me."

"It's nothing but the truth."

"Well, you don't look so bad yourself." There was a huge smile on Emily's lips now. "You picked out the suit we talked about."

"I bought it after that night in your window seat. I wanted prom to be perfect for you. For us. I guess, it didn't quit turn out that way." Paige looked down.

"Why are you here, Paige?"

"This was meant to be our night, Em. I couldn't just not be here with you tonight. I tried to stop myself from flying over here but somehow it just wasn't possible. All those nights we imagined how prom night would be our special night. The beginning of something new. The beginning of our future together outside from Rosewood."

Emily closed her eyes to keep her tears from falling. She wished they still had that future. _Pepperdine is just a 6 hour drive from Stanford. Maybe we can actually make it work._

"I'm sorry. I'm totally killing the mood."

"No, it's okay. Really." Emily assured. _You're not killing the mood. Actually, you made this night perfect for me._ "I'm happy you're here, Paige."

"I'm happy, too."

The next song was a slow one so Paige pulled Emily a little closer. Emily put her arms around Paige's neck and let her head rest on Paige shoulder. Paige arms were around Emily's back. A well-known warmth spread around between the two of them. It was like they never had been apart.

Emily listened to the song which was playing in the background:

 _Lying here with you so close to me  
It's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe  
I'm caught up in this moment  
Caught up in your smile  
_

 _I've never opened up to anyone  
So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms  
But we don't need to rush this  
Let's just take it slow_

"Paige?" Emily asked without looking up.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Now it was out there, Emily was kind of nervous. Of course she had said it before many times but this was different. They weren't in a relationship anymore. Nevertheless, Emily never had stopped loving Paige. She had tried hard to forget her, but how could she? Paige was the love of her life. The one person she absolutely trusted with everything.

 _I know that if we give this a little time  
It'll only bring us closer to the love we wanna find  
It's never felt so real,  
No, it's never felt so right_

"I love you too, Em."

Emily looked up and saw Paige smiling. A single tear of joy ran down her cheek. Emily wiped it away with her thumb. They looked at each other for a moment, taking it all in. Then Emily closed her eyes and moved in. She found Paige's soft lips. When she felt Paige kissing her back, the world around them started to disappear. It was just the two of them, holding each other. Kissing each other.

 _Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight  
Just a touch of the fire burning so bright  
No I don't want to mess this thing up  
I don't want to push too far  
Just a shot in the dark that you just might  
Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life  
So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight_

The night really turned out to be perfect after all.

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 **A/N: The song I used is "Just a kiss" by Lady Antebellum. Lyrics belong to them of course ;)**


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